Burundi could become a leading oil exporter

According to Burundi’s Director for Geology and Mines Mr. Damien Riragonya Burundi potentially large oil deposits are said to be existing on the Burundi side of Lake Tanganyika area.

Oil sips have been sighted and satellite images have added weight to earlier studies. Oil has been sighted on the Rusiszi basin along the border with the DRC. Interest has grown in exploring Burundi’s oil and already companies have flown in and laid papers to government for exploration and prospecting licences.

The East African Business Week visited the department in Bujumbura and had an indepth discussion with the with Director General of Mines and Geology Engineer Damien Rirangoya who explained that the country was endowed with unknown quantities of nickel, cobalt, tangsten, tantalum, gold, tantalum, casterine (tin), cobalt, and peat. Lots of nickel deposits exist in Burundi in the Musongati region in Central and south eastern parts of the country.